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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596910">A Proper Gander</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/VorpalGirl/pseuds/VorpalGirl'>VorpalGirl</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aka "Hey Is It Enemies To Friends To Lovers If Only One You Started Out Hating The Other?", Also Wartime Levels of Profanity, Awkward Sephiroth (Compilation of FFVII), Cranky Genesis Rhapsodos, Dramatic Genesis Rhapsodos, Empathetic Genesis Rhapsodos, Enemies to Friends To Lovers: Speedrun Edition, First Kiss, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Pre-Canon, Shinra Propaganda, Taking care of injuries, Touch-Starved Sephiroth (Compilation of Final Fantasy VII), Vulnerability, Wartime Cynicism, Wartime Romance, Wutai War (Compilation of FFVII)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:53:38</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,379</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596910</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/VorpalGirl/pseuds/VorpalGirl</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>...not to be confused with "propaganda", which the Shinra Electric Power Company is all too good at.</p><p>OR: Genesis is irritated that Sephiroth seems to be the only thing in Wutai living up to Shinra's sunny, perfectionist propaganda...right up until he realizes he's not.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Genesis Rhapsodos/Sephiroth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>106</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>FF7 Fanworks Exchange '20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Proper Gander</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/supershadsy/gifts">supershadsy</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For the prompt:</p><p>  <i> "A situation where they're both realizing how much they care about each other, maybe one of them for the first time? A dangerous situation where one (probably Genesis) sticks his neck out for the other, and while cleaning up (Sephiroth cleaning Genesis up, most likely) scolds him firmly but gently...slinging snide remarks...maybe ending in a kiss...</i></p><p>  <i>I seriously go nuts for these two so you could probably write/draw anything but a prompt is a prompt! :) "</i></p><p> </p><p>It's not an exact fill to the prompt (this thing seriously took on a life of it's own, as usual), but given your enthusiasm for the pairing, I'm hoping it'll still satisfy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Genesis Rhapsodos had been the second-youngest person on record to become a SOLDIER First Class, and if he had realized it would be like this he might never have bothered. </p><p>Boot camp had been awful, but at least the awful had been expected; out here in Wutai though, facing down ninjas and worse during the <em> fucking monsoon season, </em> he realized nothing his old drill sergeants had ever done had properly prepared him for the much quieter, squelchier misery of the actual field. Glorious indeed! Fucking propaganda.</p><p>Oh, but come to think of it <em> that </em>was the worst part, wasn’t it? He could, he thought, have dealt with all that and more, if it weren’t for the fact that Shinra Inc.’s  propaganda was inaccurate about everything <em> but </em> his de facto leader, who was, seemingly, as <em> maddeningly gods-damned perfect </em> as portrayed.<br/><br/>He had not gotten to meet the man until well into the War — not until he and Angeal had both made names for themselves in the field, had earned their promotions, had been moved up to the more high-risk combat areas — but by that point, he’d become so disenchanted and disillusioned with everything they’d been fed about the “glories of war/SOLDIER” that he hadn’t even been remotely prepared for Shinra’s demigod-like image of the “silver general” to be <em>anything close </em>to accurate.</p><p>Surely nobody could be <em>that</em> strong, fast, graceful, and downright <em>unbeatable</em>, compared to the<em> other </em> newly-boosted Firsts, right? And that face, and ridiculously perfect, long-as-hell hair and that <em>perfect skin</em> —surely, that was airbrushed to the heavens and back again. Had to be. Even Genesis didn’t look that perfect, that… <em> ethereal</em>, in person, and Genesis had been making careful use of highlighter and hair products since he was about ten and had Looks down to an art by the time he’d made his way to Midgar for SOLDIER recruitment.</p><p>Except…he <em> had </em> been.  <br/><br/>Sephiroth — too cool for a last name, it seemed  — had been <em> exactly </em> that ethereal in person, to the extent Genesis half wondered if he’d had more work done on him than <em> just </em> the SOLDIER conversion process. </p><p>His skin really <em> was </em> that smooth and clear; he really <em> was </em> as graceful and quiet as a stalking cat, careful in every movement; he really <em>could</em> cut down a dozen men in literal seconds, and sure that was technically true of Genesis at this point, but it was <em> far fewer </em> seconds, and that annoyed the hell out of him.<br/><br/>His voice, too! Why they didn’t use it in propaganda more was beyond him, because it was surprisingly deep, rumbling and melodic, charismatic in a way that was just pretty enough to strike Genesis as <em> entirely </em> unfair.<br/><br/>But worst of all: his hair really was <em> exactly </em> as perfect as all the posters had it! It wasn’t airbrushed! It wasn’t edited at all! He really managed to have tangle-free, shiny, perfectly straight locks even in <em> a gods-damned monsoon season in a gods-damned jungle.  </em> <em><br/></em><br/>Genesis, who had been having repeated Bad to Mediocre hair days since the moment he stepped foot in Wutai, had resented him for it on sight, and the fact that said silvery hair smelled like fucking <em>flowers</em> the one time he brushed past him just added insult to injury. He was starting to wonder if there was an actual materia Sephiroth had equipped to auto-fix his hair or something, but had just enough pride not to actually ask, in case he were wrong and then would just end up more pissed off at the sheer impossible <em> luck </em> of the man to have so many individual Perfect traits that any other person would kill to have even one of.</p><p>But today had to take the fucking cake — no, the whole damn <em> bakery</em>.</p><p>Because he had been so irritable (his permanent state, lately, to the extent that Angeal had stopped even bothering to try and talk him out of it), that he had gotten entirely too impulsive, even by his own standards.<br/><br/>And then the Perfect Fucking Bastard had to go and act <em> noble </em> and <em> sacrificial</em>, and take far more than just one bullet that had definitely been meant for Genesis’ back.<br/><br/>He wasn’t dead, of course. They were SOLDIERs; it took more than <em> that </em> to take one of them down at First Class level, and in any case a quickly-fired Firaga had taken care of the assailants before they could do anything more. But as if to piss Genesis off even further, he <em> waived the medics off. And just walked away. </em>With barely a single hitch to his step!</p><p>Even Genesis would be — hell, holding a shoulder, or wincing, or <em> something —</em> but not Mr Perfect, apparently; no, he just <em> walked it the fuck off</em>.</p><p>Fucking show-off.</p><p>He was still fuming about that little incident, about how <em> he hadn't asked to be saved, <span class="u">Sephiroth</span></em>, when, something like ten minutes later, his angry pacing took him past Sephiroth's tent.</p><p>And it would have taken him well past it, had he not heard the very distinctive sound of a hiss of pain, followed immediately by a growled-out curse.</p><p>Hmm, he thought, a smirk growing on his lips.</p><p>Gosh, if he didn't know any better, he'd say that sounded an awful lot like <em>Sephiroth</em>. </p><p>He flipped the tent flap open. Loudly. And then strolled right on in, because honestly, <em>fuck</em> protocols and etiquette if Mr. Perfect's pride meant he was <em> pretending </em> to be unaffected by <em> literal bullets </em> just to look tougher.</p><p>Then he stopped short.</p><p>Because Sephiroth — the great, mighty, normally <em> graceful </em> Sephiroth — was staring at him in frozen alarm, with what appeared to be fresh bandages held in his <em> teeth</em>, and, bafflingly, not one but two separate mirrors, one of them hand-held, which…he was apparently trying to twist around to see his own back with?</p><p>Which was understandable, given the nasty set of wounds on his back, which, while probably not nearly as bad as they looked at a casual glance, were definitely still something a <em> fucking healer should have been taking a look at</em>.</p><p>It is one thing to prime yourself mentally for a smug "gotcha" on your fellow First Class Officer.</p><p>It is quite another to be faced with…<em>that</em>.<br/><br/>So, instead of some dramatically flourished "Aha! I knew it!" (which was approximately what he had <em> intended </em> to say, and had been <em>prepared</em> to say)…<br/><br/>…what <em> actually </em> came out of Genesis' mouth, was:</p><p>"Sephiroth, what the <em> actual fuck </em>?"</p><p>Oh, so apparently the man <em> could </em> be made to blush. That, he supposed, was nice to know?</p><p>Sephiroth let the bandage fall gently into his lap, and apparently this was a prelude to him making some sort of bullshit excuse, because Genesis saw his mouth open again as if to speak. </p><p>Which he was having absolutely none of.</p><p>"This is what <em> medics </em> are for, you idiot!" And gods, but what minuscule <em>scrap</em> of patience he had was being sorely tested, here. "What are you even doing trying to treat a <em> back </em> wound <em> by yourself ?"</em></p><p>"…I…" He looked, to Genesis' slight satisfaction, somewhat chagrined as he glanced away. "…was told…not to use the medics, if it could be avoided." The last part came out almost as a mumble. </p><p>"By <em> whom?"</em> Genesis snapped. "What fucking idiot ever gave you the impression this would <em> not </em> be a situation for the medics to earn their pay with!?" </p><p>Sephiroth had a habit of hiding behind his prodigious bangs. He also tended to otherwise have an excellent poker face. So for a long, quiet moment, Genesis couldn't interpret a damn thing in his expression. </p><p>And then, at last, the Tell: a faint twitch of the lips, followed by immediately clamping them back together in a fierce but somehow <em>not</em> wholly straight, line.</p><p>He was, Genesis realized, attempting to <em> suppress a smile.<br/><br/></em> No — suppressing a grin, possibly even a <em>laugh</em>. </p><p>He'd never seen that kind of expression on him before, he realized. Part of the long list of things that had been annoying him, in fact, had been that the man at times seemed entirely emotionless, to the point where on occasion one wondered if he was even <em>human</em>. But <em> this </em> expression disturbed that placid mental image as surely as a rock to a puddle.</p><p>"That…" Sephiroth said, and oh yes, he thought, there <em>was</em> a note of <em>actual</em> <em>mirth</em> in that warm rumble."... 'fucking idiot', as you say? Would be President Shinra."</p><p>There was a moment of silence as Genesis processed that, most if which consisted of a vigorous internal debate over whether Sephiroth was kidding him, except <em> why would he, </em> and—</p><p>And what spilled out was, in the end:<br/><br/>"...<em>what</em>."</p><p>He was too stunned to make it a proper sentence, let alone a question. He was reasonably certain by now that he wasn't actually having his chain yanked, but at the <em> same time</em>...nothing of that made any <em> sense. </em></p><p>"<em>Why!? </em> " he eventually added, because that about summed up the <em> entirety </em> of his thoughts at the moment.</p><p>"Because," Sephiroth said, and that rare smile evaporated, replaced by a resigned look, and a sigh that caused the man to wince at the movement of what was<em> probably </em> a bruised rib, at best, and possibly a minor fracture. He moved the bandage to the top of the open first aid kit, and turned his head, looking at him more directly before he continued.</p><p>"They'd prefer people think of me as more or less literally invulnerable; better, they say, for their propaganda efforts."</p><p>Which was asinine, but it occurred to Genesis then that it certainly <em>would </em> be a lot easier to make a man seem "invulnerable", if he was literally never seen to be <em> vulnerable</em>. </p><p>It kind of said a lot about Shinra as a company that he had zero trouble believing him on this, really. </p><p>In fact, come to think of it, it made a lot of other things make a lot more sense.<br/><br/>He glanced down and noticed that, now that Sephiroth was fully shirtless, if he looked closely...his skin wasn't <em> quite </em> as flawless as the pinup calendars back in Midgar made it out to be. Not as <em> unmarred</em>.<br/><br/>Instead, all across that sculpted torso, there were scars.</p><p>They were scattered, and generally small, and faint enough to <em> not </em> be noticeable in the dim lighting of jungle brush, flat enough they'd never show under his clothing...but the stark white LEDs illuminating the tent made it hard to ignore their existence.</p><p>He sucked in a breath through his teeth. Given what he'd just been told...</p><p>"...have you had to do this kind of thing <em> before?"</em></p><p>He hated that he was right about the answer he got.</p><p>"Unfortunately, yes," Sephiroth said. "I'm getting better at avoiding it lately, but…well. A war zone is not exactly conducive to staying uninjured, especially when you're one of the ones on the front line."</p><p>Which is how Genesis realized Sephiroth, though indeed <em> eerily </em> tough and fast and powerful, was not actually superhuman, nor was he...technically used to thinking of himself as such, either.</p><p>"Oh, for fuck's sake," Genesis muttered. "Here, if you're <em> going </em> to avoid the medics, at <em> least </em> let someone who knows their way around materia and has a Mastered Cure on hand help."<br/><br/>The reply was quiet, and surprisingly shy.<br/><br/>…<em>and</em> maddeningly masochistic.</p><p>"…you don't have to."</p><p>He snorted. Like hell he didn't, at this point.<br/><br/>"As Angeal would no doubt insist, I'm surely <em> honor </em> bound to do so, seeing as <em> this </em> inconvenient monstrosity was apparently what you saved me from," Genesis said, rolling his eyes and moving to sit behind him on the cot. "But also: you're clearly not going to be able to fix this without straining your own neck anyway. Just turn the rest of the way that way and <em> sit the fuck still</em>. I need to get a better look at this mess."</p><p>To his satisfaction, Sephiroth, still faintly flushed, complied without further objection.</p><p>The slight sigh of relief as the Curaga washed over him was to be expected, and was duly ignored. With a wound like that, on such a sensitive area? Anybody with a fully functioning nervous system would feel damn near euphoric from the sudden <em>lack</em> of pain. Of course he sighed in relief. Of course the tension released from his shoulders like a marionette with their strings cut. <em>Anybody</em> would.<br/><br/>It was the reactions <em>after</em>, as Genesis checked over his handiwork, that would truly change everything between them.</p><p>Because it quickly became clear that Sephiroth had not been touched —at least, in any gentle, pleasant way— in quite some time. Almost <em>every</em> movement of his across Sephiroth's body seemed to provoke a reaction more intense than expected, and it didn't even seem to matter<em> where </em> Genesis touched him — there was an <em> effect</em>, either way. </p><p>Part of him thrilled at the realization, and another was<em> furious. </em></p><p>He ran his fingers along the light scars of the now-healed wound to check them, and then carefully, slowly, <em>tentatively</em>, allowed them to wander elsewhere on his back. Eventually, he let them wander even further: across the shoulder, the upper arms…and Sephiroth <em> shivered</em>, each time, despite the heat. More than once his breath quickened, before very <em> purposefully</em>, and with clear effort, slowing again. </p><p>He went tellingly quiet for a solid minute.</p><p>And in that minute, Genesis heard him swallow, could swear he saw a hand shake.</p><p>He tilted his head to get a better view of Sephiroth's face, just in case he had crossed some sort of line he shouldn't, and…well, then.</p><p>He had been right, it seemed.</p><p>Such slight touches, yet already Sephiroth's lips were parted, and his eyes…they were closed, and certainly the man could be hard to read but those furrowed brows didn't look to be from <em> anxiety</em>.</p><p>There was also a very <em>pretty</em> intensifying of the flush across his checks and, charmingly, his ears.</p><p>Genesis considered his options, and decided that if they were going to act on the impulse he was leaning toward, the least he could do was not rub salt into a wound, even if he couldn’t see it.</p><p>"Not used to being touched much, are we?" he said, his tone deliberately smooth, and yes, perhaps a little playful.</p><p>It was as if he'd broken a Stop spell. Sephiroth's eyes opened, blinked rapidly twice, and to Genesis'…well, not quite <em> surprise</em>, he ducked his head slightly, just enough to hide his eyes behind his bangs again.</p><p>It was another long moment before he replied.</p><p>"…not…like this," he said, almost impossibly soft, but Genesis <em> heard </em> that note of guilty longing. Guilty, as if he were weak or embarrassing for wanting touch! "Just…labwork. Sparring. That sort of thing. I'm not —people tend— I believe they find me somewhat unnerving," he said finally. "Most do not wish to get so close. At least, out of those allowed near."</p><p>Genesis had been intending to keep things light, but after hearing <em> that… </em>for the first time, he felt himself come to a boil —a truly <em> furious </em> boil— on Sephiroth's behalf.</p><p>It was one thing to be obnoxious about a public image — surely that was just standard Shinra bullshit, but to disallow— the <em> gall! </em> How <em> dare they!?</em></p><p>"That's…" He had to pause to take a breath, or it would have all come out, he was sure, as incoherent growling. "People <em> need </em> touch! <em> Gentle </em> touch! Are you telling me they don't let anybody so much as hug or — <em>cuddle </em> with you?! Ever!?"</p><p>"Not… in person, no," Sephiroth mumbled.</p><p>"That," Genesis declared, "is an absolute <em> outrage</em>."</p><p>"…it is?"</p><p>Sephiroth, seemingly forgetting that he was trying to hide his eyes, turned to Genesis and blinked, as if confused that anybody should care whether or not he got hugs.<br/><br/>But there was a flicker in his expression, in the eyes, the brows, the parting of his lips that Genesis did not miss.</p><p>There were a lot of things Genesis had potentially been about to say, but that expression made him forget all of them. Instead, in the end, he let his hands and his eyes do the talking.</p><p>He lifted a hand — where Sephiroth could see it, of course; one didn't <em> surprise </em> a First Class SOLDIER in a war zone if they could help it — and slowly, carefully brought it closer, until his fingers brushed Sephiroth's temple.</p><p>He was known for his boldness, and he had very little doubt that at least <em> part </em> of Sephiroth wanted something like this, but even so, he felt a slight, rebellious sort of thrill as he slid his fingers into that silvery hair.</p><p>Sephiroth's breath hitched at this, but he made no move to stop him —quite the opposite, in fact. His eyes fluttered shut, a sigh escaping as he leaned into the touch.</p><p>Genesis spent several long, pleasant moments carding his fingers through that ridiculous silver hair, enjoying the enviable smoothness of it but enjoying the way Sephiroth melted into his touch even more.</p><p>His other hand brushed gently, almost teasingly across a bicep, moving up towards the shoulder, and Sephiroth's breathing grew heavier. He slid his fingertips along to the throat, to the collar bone, and back again, and Sephiroth's lips parted, his breath stuttering for a moment as he leaned his chest into that touch too, as he bared his very throat to him.</p><p>As the last few hours had shown, Genesis was not exactly known for his impulse control.</p><p>It would probably violate all sorts of unwritten rules, he thought, as he slid those same fingers to Sephiroth's jawline. But, how could he resist, especially when the man's entire body seemed to <em> scream </em> for something like it? His own pulse thudded in his ears.</p><p>He moved his hand to tilt Sephiroth's head, and Sephiroth let him.</p><p>He brushed his nose against his cheek, and Sephiroth leaned into it, a tiny breath escaping him. </p><p>He brushed lips against lips, and Sephiroth made this <em> sound</em>, and leaned very much into <em> that</em>, too.</p><p>It was soft, their first kiss. Soft, and slow, and accompanied with the gentlest caresses and clearly Sephiroth had never experienced anything like it, because he made all kinds of incredible little sounds and he was practically <em>vibrating</em> by the time they paused to separate for breath.<br/><br/>Then again, so was Genesis, honestly; he felt almost dizzy with it, that sheer <em>need</em> for skin-to-skin contact.<br/><br/>Granted, it had been a pretty long, rough deployment, but he rather suspected it had more to do with the way his simple caresses, his single, soft kiss, already had Sephiroth so damn <em>flustered</em>. Flushed all the way to the tips of his ears, his breathing labored, his hands...oh, his <em>hands</em> were <em>trembling</em>, and he kept lifting and lowering one of them, and clutching and releasing the other, as if he weren't sure what to <em>do</em> with them. <br/><br/>It was...it was so <em>awkward</em>. Genesis couldn't help it; he laughed  — giggled, really, not that he would ever admit it— and said:<br/><br/>"You. Are <em>adorable</em>."</p><p>Sephiroth blinked, and it was like watching someone try to do 5th-dimensional calculus in their head without their morning coffee. "...I am?"<br/><br/>Genesis laughed again, and slid fingers through those silly bangs, which Sephiroth leaned into like a content but very confused cat. <br/><br/>"I'm guessing that isn't normally part of the vocabulary used to describe you?"<br/><br/>"Mm...not...historically," Sephiroth mumbled, eyes sliding closed, wobbling even where he sat on the cot and boy it really <em>was</em> easy to compare the man to a cat, wasn't it? All that sleek, silent hunter's prowess and then the slightest touch in the right way had him purring, and possibly losing control of a limb or three. He was suddenly reminded of his family's cats back home — especially the mellow grey tom that spent more time sunning himself than mousing in the orchards, and whom Genesis on more than one occasion had gleefully petted to the point of such bliss he'd rolled right off the patio into the flowerbed.<br/><br/>Hmm, it would probably be rude to laugh again, wouldn't it?<br/><br/>So Genesis, just barely, suppressed the urge — and instead his smiling lips sought Sephiroth's again. And again. And again...</p><p>It was several hours before anybody else at the camp saw them again.<br/><br/>Nobody chose comment on the states of either of their hair.<br/><br/></p>
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